Drunk lorry driver rams into cars, bikes & pedestrians

A STAFF REPORTER

(Above and below right)
The mangled
taxi after it was hit by a truck on Andul Road, Howrah, on Sunday. The truck rammed into the Tavera (below left) before
crushing the taxi. Pictures by
Gopal Senapati

Ten people were injured when a drunk driver lost control of his truck, hit a car, crushed a taxi, knocked down two pedestrians and rammed into parked motorcycles on Andul Road in Howrah on Sunday morning, police said.

An officer said four of the injured were critical.

The accident occurred around 8.30am on the road that connects Vidyasagar Setu with NH6.

Residents caught the truck driver, Gangeswar Singh, 32, and handed him over to the police. “We have arrested the driver in a drunken state,” said Sukhendu Hira, additional superintendent of police, Howrah (rural).

Bystanders, narrating the sequence of events, said the truck first hit a Chevrolet Tavera carrying seven members of a family from Howrah’s Panchla. The lorry driver then tried to overtake the Tavera and scoot but a taxi approaching from the opposite direction came directly on its way.

In the melee, two pedestrians were hit too.

The truck finally stopped after ploughing through a row of motorcycles parked on the roadside. Most of the bikes tumbled into a pond by the road.

The injured taxi passengers are residents of Sankrail, the police said.

“The truck driver kept hitting one vehicle after another in his bid to flee after colliding with the Tavera,” said Raju Das who was having tea at a nearby stall. There were four women in the Tavera.

The taxi passengers were critically injured because the truck hit the vehicle near the right rear door. The cab driver injured his legs.

“The taxi was so badly crushed that it’s a miracle that all of them survived. The rear door was completely damaged, trapping the passengers. We somehow pulled them out,” Das said.

Residents of the area and policemen worked together to send the injured to hospital.

Two men on the Tavera were also critical while the pedestrians who were hit from behind sustained injuries on their hands, legs and face.

An officer said the truck used to ferry asphalt but was empty when the accident happened. It was heading for Alampur, where Andul Road meets NH6. The stretch along Andul Purbapara is narrow and congested.